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A Place in the Sun: The Importance of Radiology in Multidisciplinary Conference
Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal 67 (2016) 203 www.carjonline.org
Editorial / Editorial
A Place in the Sun: The Importance of Radiology in Multidisciplinary Conference Individual commitment to a group effort e that’s what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), American football player and coach If you want a place in the sun, you have to expect a few blisters. Pauline Phillips (1918-2013), aka: Abigail van Buren ‘‘Dear Abby’’, American columnist Involvement in multidisciplinary conferences is a common feature of many radiology practices. Be it an academic centre or a busy community hospital, rounds where multiple disciplines are present often play an important role in patient management. It is not uncommon for many radiologists to spend many hours a week in this endeavor. Although this is often seen in the setting of tumour boards, in my own institution, multidisciplinary rounds centred around trauma, rheumatology, and pulmonary and cardiac imaging, as well as other disciplines, are a regular feature of radiologists’ daily activities. Multidisciplinary rounds are sometimes viewed as an encumbrance [1]. Reviewing cases ahead of time can be time consuming. In addition to the time involved in preparation, these rounds, which can often last over an hour, pull the radiologist away from dealing with the day’s clinical responsibilities and are usually not compensated financially. On the other hand, there are many advantages to radiologists’ participation in these multidisciplinary events. Personally, I often find I learn a great deal when attending these rounds, which can sometimes be very helpful in interpreting examinations or protocoling cases for imaging. These rounds can also significantly benefit patient care by streamlining workups, avoiding unnecessary or unhelpful examinations, and providing additional information to our clinical and laboratory colleagues [2,3]. It is also very much to our advantage
by increasing our profile amongst our nonradiologic colleagues and increasing our relevance by being an active participant in the team involving clinical decision making. Certainly, in my own institution, the radiologist is often seen as the pivotal person in these multidisciplinary rounds, and this essentially provides us with a place in the sun, whereby the relevance of radiology is highlighted and appreciated. This has actually served in many instances to decrease tensions between departments, and has allowed us to be perceived as an integral part of the team. As an added bonus, recently in British Columbia it has become possible to actually bill for attendance to these rounds, thereby further diminishing some of the obstacles that existed to radiology participation. Multidisciplinary rounds certainly have far more positives to them than negatives. We need to embrace, promote, and develop this important opportunity. Peter L. Munk, MD, CM, FRCPC, FSIR Editor in Chief, CARJ Professor of Radiology Orthopaedics and Palliative Care University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada E-mail address: [email protected] References [1] Kane B, Luz S, O’Brian DS, McDermott R. Multidisciplinary team meetings and their impact on workflow in radiology and pathology departments. BMC Med 2007;5:15. [2] Dickerson EC, Hasan B. Alam HB, Brown RKJ, Stojanovska J, Michigan Radiology Quality Collaborative, Davenport MS. In-person communication between radiologists and acute care surgeons leads to significant alterations in surgical decision making [epub ahead of print]. J Am Coll Radiol http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacr.2016.02.005, accessed June 22, 2016. [3] Ding A, Mueller PR. The breadth of teaching commitment in radiology departments: a national survey. J Am Coll Radiol 2010;7:290e3.
0846-5371/$ - see front matter Ó 2016 Canadian Association of Radiologists. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carj.2016.06.002
Editorial / Editorial
A Place in the Sun: The Importance of Radiology in Multidisciplinary Conference Individual commitment to a group effort e that’s what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), American football player and coach If you want a place in the sun, you have to expect a few blisters. Pauline Phillips (1918-2013), aka: Abigail van Buren ‘‘Dear Abby’’, American columnist Involvement in multidisciplinary conferences is a common feature of many radiology practices. Be it an academic centre or a busy community hospital, rounds where multiple disciplines are present often play an important role in patient management. It is not uncommon for many radiologists to spend many hours a week in this endeavor. Although this is often seen in the setting of tumour boards, in my own institution, multidisciplinary rounds centred around trauma, rheumatology, and pulmonary and cardiac imaging, as well as other disciplines, are a regular feature of radiologists’ daily activities. Multidisciplinary rounds are sometimes viewed as an encumbrance [1]. Reviewing cases ahead of time can be time consuming. In addition to the time involved in preparation, these rounds, which can often last over an hour, pull the radiologist away from dealing with the day’s clinical responsibilities and are usually not compensated financially. On the other hand, there are many advantages to radiologists’ participation in these multidisciplinary events. Personally, I often find I learn a great deal when attending these rounds, which can sometimes be very helpful in interpreting examinations or protocoling cases for imaging. These rounds can also significantly benefit patient care by streamlining workups, avoiding unnecessary or unhelpful examinations, and providing additional information to our clinical and laboratory colleagues [2,3]. It is also very much to our advantage
by increasing our profile amongst our nonradiologic colleagues and increasing our relevance by being an active participant in the team involving clinical decision making. Certainly, in my own institution, the radiologist is often seen as the pivotal person in these multidisciplinary rounds, and this essentially provides us with a place in the sun, whereby the relevance of radiology is highlighted and appreciated. This has actually served in many instances to decrease tensions between departments, and has allowed us to be perceived as an integral part of the team. As an added bonus, recently in British Columbia it has become possible to actually bill for attendance to these rounds, thereby further diminishing some of the obstacles that existed to radiology participation. Multidisciplinary rounds certainly have far more positives to them than negatives. We need to embrace, promote, and develop this important opportunity. Peter L. Munk, MD, CM, FRCPC, FSIR Editor in Chief, CARJ Professor of Radiology Orthopaedics and Palliative Care University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada E-mail address: [email protected] References [1] Kane B, Luz S, O’Brian DS, McDermott R. Multidisciplinary team meetings and their impact on workflow in radiology and pathology departments. BMC Med 2007;5:15. [2] Dickerson EC, Hasan B. Alam HB, Brown RKJ, Stojanovska J, Michigan Radiology Quality Collaborative, Davenport MS. In-person communication between radiologists and acute care surgeons leads to significant alterations in surgical decision making [epub ahead of print]. J Am Coll Radiol http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacr.2016.02.005, accessed June 22, 2016. [3] Ding A, Mueller PR. The breadth of teaching commitment in radiology departments: a national survey. J Am Coll Radiol 2010;7:290e3.
0846-5371/$ - see front matter Ó 2016 Canadian Association of Radiologists. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carj.2016.06.002